The ‘bravest, most moral soldiers’ in the world in action….. not a shot was fired, not a stone was hurled, yet they ran for their lives. One small victory for Palestine, One GREAT boost to it’s morale!

Nurit Peled spoke for thousands of Israeli Jews when she wrote that she will mourn on Nakba Day. Anyone with an ounce of human decency will mourn on that day as well. The Palestinians are not going to be alone on their day of mourning, neither will the Jews of conscience. It was the zionists that lit the flames, it is up to all Jews to extinguish them!

Palestine must once again take its rightful place among the family of nations, as a Free and Independent State!

Sporadic but violent clashes between stone-hurling Palestinian youths and fully armed Israeli soldiers continued to rage all over the occupied territories for the fourth consecutive day following the opening of a large synagogue near the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) compound that is home to some of Islam’s holiest shrines.

The renewed clashes have several causes: Continued Israeli settlement building in occupied territory, particularly East Jerusalem, the building of the separation barrier, as well as other incidents, such as the consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City last week or the addition to a list of Israeli heritage sites of religious sites in Hebron and in Bethlehem last month.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Sunday shot dead two Palestinians who attacked them with pitchforks near the West Bank city of Nablus, bringing to four the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in 24 hours.

According to initial reports, soldiers from the IDF's Nahshon Battalion were stationed south of the Israeli settlement of Itamar in order to protect Palestinians plowing their land.

The soldiers opened fire after two Palestinians tried to attack them. The soldiers were not harmed.

You are already well aware of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza consequent on Israel’s devastating military attacks and its siege. As recently as December 27of 2009, you called the blockade of Gaza “unacceptable.” While this statement is certainly valid, it constitutes a gross understatement of the actual situation which amounts to slow genocide. Such understatement suggests that you are trimming your language to accommodate US pro-Israeli policy.

EVENTY-EIGHT year old Mustapha Al Jamal waits, hoping his home will be rebuilt. As Jan. 4—the one-year anniversary of his loss—approached, however, when and how remained unknown. His 30-year-old son, Mohammed, is less than optimistic: he believes Israel’s siege on Gaza, approaching its fourth year, will continue for a decade. “The world has just accepted that we suffer,” he explained in an interview.

“The steel wall is a serious threat that will make life impossible for us here in Gaza,” said Abu Ayman, one of thousands of workers at the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. The 41-year-old man, who declined to give his full name, explained that this is the only job that allows him to feed his four children, wife and two elderly parents. “What do you expect us to do,” he asked, “when there is a high rate of unemployment, and no other means of survival?”

At a non-violent demonstration on Friday at An Nabi Saleh, 25 demonstrators were injured by Israeli Defence Forces [IDF]. [ISM] International Solidarity Movement’s co-founder Huwaida Arraf has been released after being arrested and kept in detention for a day. ISM volunteer Ellen Stark was shot at point blank range (4 meters) with a rubber bullet as she stood with medics, Popular Committee members and other internationals. ISM co-founder Huwaida Arraf was arrested while negotiating with the IOF to allow Ellen through the military line to get to the hospital.

Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in the Netherlands has put an extended hold on the visa application of award-winning Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, scheduled to speak on conditions in Palestine, on April 5th in Chicago.

After weeks of provocative war mongering moves, such as opening a synagogue at Al Aqsa Mosque, refusing to let Muslim enter Al Aqsa Mosque, ethnically cleansing Muslims from their homes in East Jerusalem, announcing more land grabbing settlements of close to 2 thousand new psychotic settlers, and generally poking sticks and attempting to instigate fights with Muslims, Israel is today rejoicing, their work has now paid off.

Today a small rocket was fired into Israel (by a handful of dissidents) and a Thai agricultural worker died as a result, this is very sad for the innocent man, however it is not a reason to once again bomb thousands of innocent Gazan civlians.

Israel will not cancel the newly approved East Jerusalem construction project, but will postpone its execution to facilitate peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, a Washington Post report citing Israel's U.S. envoy said on Thursday.

Senior Post reporter Jackson Diehl, said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell the Obama administration that he both cannot revoke the Ramat Shlomo expansion plan both for legal reasons and as a result of wide public support in continued building in Jerusalem.

On Tuesday tens of hundreds of Palestinians of all political persuasions took to the streets, alleys and sidewalks as widespread rioting and protests spread across East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and into Israel proper.

The worst violence in several years, something of a mini Intifadah or uprising, followed the Islamist movement Hamas calling for a ‘Day of Rage’ to protest Israel’s continued Judaisation of East Jerusalem and what Palestinians see as an attempt to take over Islamic holy sites.

Israeli fighter jets have bombarded at least two sites in the Gaza Strip shortly after a Thai agricultural worker was killed when a rocket fired from the besieged coastal enclave struck the northern Negev.

The eyewitnesses said Israeli F-16 fighter jets targeted an open area north of the Gaza City. The warplanes also fired missiles at an open area in the central Gaza Strip.

One of the warplanes broke the sound barrier in the skies of northern and central Gaza Strip, causing panic through the crowd, especially women and children.

In Argentina, during the reign of the fascist coup they were simply called Los Desaparecidos (the disappeared).

In Palestine, under the fascist occupation they are called CHILDREN.

First we must recognize that International law is rather
clear that East Jerusalem is illegally occupied by Israel and per the Geneva conventions, and buildings or activities in the occupied areas are subject to those conventions. Any transfer of population to the occupied areas including infrastructure for these individuals is considered proscribed settlement activity contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the law.

Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza into Israel Thursday, killing a Thai farm worker, while the European Union's foreign affairs chief was visiting the Hamas-controlled enclave.

PART 2

PART 3

Yesterday, demonstrations were held throughout Jerusalem by Palestinians and progressive Israelis. They were protesting the growth of illegal settlements and evictions throughout the occupied eastern part of the city.

One of the demonstrations was held on the campus of the Hebrew University. About 80 Palestinian students assembled peacefully outside one of the main entrances. They were jeered by no more than 10 Israeli students who chanted “Go back to Gaza”, among other chants that I dare not put in writing without putting an ‘adult content’ tag on this post.

It was an ugly situation to say the least.

Ramallah to name street after U.S. activist Rachel Corrie

Terrorism, or the glorification of it, is not the solution to anything….it will only prolong the struggle for a permanent Just Peace. We must find ways and means to get to that goal. Both sides must unite against terrorism!

Entire Villages Declared “Closed Military Zones” for Protesting

Israeli Army: Bil’in and Ni’ilin a Closed Military Zone for a Six Months Period Dozens of masked soldiers raided the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin this morning to post decrees designating the village’s lands as a closed military zone on Fridays for a period of six months.

Israeli authorities ordered Sunday the destruction of Salman Al-Farsi, the mosque under construction in the northern West Bank village of Burin, reported Ghassan Daghlas, head of the Palestinian Authority's settlement portfolio.

Daghlas explained that the Israeli Civil Administration ordered a stop on construction work at the mosque, demanding the demolition of what has already been completed of the three-story building.

Last week, a few Palestinian journalists and I had the opportunity to meet with Martin Day, a spokesman of the British government. The meeting, which was hosted by the Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN), took place in Ramallah. In his introductory remarks, Day gave the impression that the imminent renewal of peace talks between the almost completely helpless Palestinian Authority (PA) and a brazenly insolent Israel, ruled by the most hawkish government in the Jewish state’s history, will eventually achieve peace and lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. He also lauded the Obama administration, underscoring its “sincerity” towards resolving the enduring Palestinian cause.

Residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Saad will have to go through a special gate in the separation fence in order to reach Jabel Mukaber and the rest of Jerusalem, the High Court of Justice ruled on Monday.

The judges rejected a petition filed by residents of the village and partially accepted the defense establishment’s stance, meaning the current situation will remain unchanged and the temporary fence in the area will become permanent.

Common sense from educators when it comes to dealing with Jew haters and Jew baiters is so rare that when it happens, it should be applauded.

That occurred March 2 when Toronto District School Board education director Chris Spence, following a motion by Trustee James Pasternak and discussions with senior staff, issued the following statement regarding Israeli Apartheid Week.

The olive young leaves and flower sprouts are denser than ever before. It promises a great season not only of bountiful agricultural harvest but of bountiful harvest on the activism front. It is true that, as the Palestinian poet stated, if the olive tree knew the suffering of its owner, its oil would turn into tears. The Israeli apartheid forces have been uprooting olive trees in Beit Jala the last few days.

In recent months there have been many cases in which minors aged 12-15 from Silwan, in East Jerusalem, were arrested in the middle of the night by police officers and Israel Security Agency agents accompanied by armed border policemen. The minors were taken out of their beds and brought to the police station in the Russian Compound, in West Jerusalem. Some of them were brought handcuffed, and none of the parents were allowed to accompany them. At the station, the minors were interrogated on suspicion of stone throwing. According to testimonies that some of them gave to B’Tselem, the interrogators beat and threatened them.

A spat over the Ramat Shlomo housing project in East Jerusalem becomes a bigger clash as the secretary of State calls it ‘an insult to the United States.’

Aside from the general reasons for the weekly Friday demos in Sheikh Jarrah, there is another reason that we’re there every Friday, even last week when we held the big rally. The reason is this: every Sabbath evening a group of extreme right-wing ultra-orthodox Jews (henceforth: the hooligans) congregate in front of one of the stolen houses in order to “pray”. So we come every Friday afternoon so as to maintain a presence.

Friends,

As many of you know, a civil lawsuit in the case of our daughter
Rachel Corrie is scheduled for trial in the Haifa District Court
beginning March 10, 2010. A human rights observer and activist, Rachel, 23, tried nonviolently to offer protection for a Palestinian family whose home was threatened with demolition by the Israeli military.

On March 16, 2003, she was crushed to death by an Israel Defense Force (IDF) Caterpillar D9R bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza.

An attack against a student group that was sympathetic to the Palestinians occurred at the University of Western Ontario in 1982. The student group was refused official recognition because of its support for the Palestinians and for sponsoring Palestinian and Arab speakers. After this refusal a complaint was made to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Indictments issued Thursday against two soldiers who fought in Operation Cast Lead for allegedly forcing child to open bags suspected of being booby trapped. Ynet reveals full testimony of child, Majd that lays out alleged events of that day. The war through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy.

Palestinians mark 1000 days of the siege. Palestinians in Gaza have held a candlelit vigil to mark the 1000th day of the siege of Gaza. Hundreds of people gathered at the “Square of the Unknown Soldier” in Gaza City on 11 March to remind the world of the immoral blockade imposed by Israel, with Egyptian support.

THIS week, when I return to my village in the occupied West Bank, I face possible arrest by Israel for engaging in nonviolent protests against abusive Israeli policies opposed by our own government.

This prospect is difficult after 29 years of living in the United States, where such activities are fully protected. It was this openness that attracted me to the U.S. I became a proud citizen and pursued work not only in my profession but also as a human rights advocate.

Israel builds still more facts on Palestinian ground, while stalemate persists

Rachel Corrie was a college student from Washington state who tried to slow the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza. She was run down by an Israeli military bulldozer operator while she communicated with him on a bullhorn.

The Israeli Defense Forces were not held accountable. But, the parents of Rachel Corrie this week, are actually having their day in court. They are currently in Haifa, Israel for the civil case involving the death of their daughter.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, talked to Cindy and Craig Corrie; two courageous parents who are trying to find justice in a nation that routinely destroys the homes of Palestinian people in its ever-broadening claim of the tiny amount of remaining Palestinian land.

A Palestinian official told the newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi Saturday that U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the U.S. will bring a halt to Israeli building in East Jerusalem.

"In a telephone conversation, Mitchell said the U.S. would make sure Israel stops building in the area," the Palestinian official told the London based Arabic daily newspaper.

Based on Biden's reaction, it seems that he (and, presumably, his boss) has decided that it is better to leave with a few sour grapes than to quarrel with the vineyard guard. In his speech at Tel Aviv University, he said he appreciated Netanyahu's pledge that there would be no recurrence. But what exactly does that mean? That next time he comes, the Planning and Building Committee will be asked to defer discussion of similar plans until the honored guest has left? With the media storm dying down, Netanyahu can breathe a sigh of relief.

In a sense, the uproar actually helped him: To wipe the spit off his face, Biden had to say it was only rain. Therefore, he lauded Netanyahu's assertion that actual construction in Ramat Shlomo would begin only in another several years.

A friend in Cairo mentioned that he had a laptop and some CDs that were intended for a friend of his in Palestinian Rafah. He knew that I planned to go to al-Arish, and if I could make it past the checkpoints, to Egyptian Rafah, and asked if I could arrange to have the items smuggled to Gaza. I agreed; the siege is an expression of moral bankruptcy and responsible human beings are compelled to undermine the regime in every way. Furthermore, the Palestinians of Gaza have very few options when it comes to receiving basic goods.

Thousands of French protesters have rallied against the import of Israeli goods produced in Palestinian territories.

Monday's demonstration comes less then a month after the European Union's Court of Justice ruled that Israeli goods made in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank cannot be considered Israeli.

The next Intifada could see the Palestinian people in struggle not only against Israel but also against the Palestinian Authority, writes Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah

It has been reported in Ha’aretz that President Obama submitted a letter of commitment to the Palestinian side to get these indirect “proximity talks” off the ground. The letter notes, “Our core remains a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967.” This is not the first time a US administration has used its creativity in creating new terminology to deal with the conflict instead of relying on the time-tested body of international law that provides the keys to real progress. In the past, in place of “independent state” the US has attached such adjectives to the word “state” as “contiguous,” “viable,” “economically viable,” “territorial continuity,” and the like.

It was hard to say goodbye to my wife and friends in the US. The last night was very meaningful as we were in New York seeing the performance of Najla Said, daughter of my friend and mentor, the late Professor Edward Said (for an earlier statement from Najla.

The Israel Defense Forces prosecution on Thursday filed an indictment against two combat soldiers suspected of inappropriate conduct during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008.

The soldiers, who served as staff sergeants in the Givati Brigade during Operation Cast Lead, allegedly forced a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags they thought might contain explosive materials. The bags turned out to be harmless.

“We were in our home when we heard the Israeli tanks and bulldozers approaching. We ran off immediately,” says Sbaih.

She walks over felled trees, past the bulldozed cistern, and to the ruins of their home.

“It’s all destroyed. Look, our clothes are buried,” she shouts, pulling at a sweater caught beneath the concrete block pile.

Household belongings are strewn on top of and beneath the pyramid of rubble. A gas range, several cooking pots, a plastic water bottle filled with olives, another with olive oil — both from their land and their destroyed olive trees — denote where the kitchen once stood.

No sooner had the Obama administration announced the resumption of “indirect” talks between Israel and the PA regime than Israel announced new plans to expand Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank .

On Tuesday, as visiting US Vice president Joe Biden was showering Israel with the usually excessive praise, the Israeli Interior Ministry, headed by Eli Yeshai, announced plans to build 1600 new settler units in East Jerusalem.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, Okayed the construction of 112 additional settler units in the West Bank, effectively terminating an earlier half-hearted decision to partially freeze Jewish settlement expansion for eight months.

On March 9th there was a $1,000 a plate fundraising dinner at New York’s Waldorf Astoria for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) – the same folks that rained death and destruction on Gaza a little over a year ago. The dinner was sponsored by Friends of the IDF.

A group of Israeli settlers destroy a spring by the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the Salfit district of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian villagers were forced to watch helplessly as settlers poured sand and cement into the spring, guarded by five armed members of the Israeli military.

Some 50,000 new housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line are in various stages of planning and approval, planning officials told Haaretz. They said Jerusalem's construction plans for the next few years, even decades, are expected to focus on East Jerusalem.

On March 1, the premier episode of a 90 part series, “Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem” was launched on YouTube, and there are now eight episodes online. The video diary chronicles the lives of four young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, two living in Gaza and two in Arab Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Khalid Amayreh: “As an oppressed people our certainty is to be free”

Unlike the US, photos of missing children do not appear on milk cartons in Occupied Palestine…. their parents know where they are…. kidnapped by Israeli soldiers, or worse.

“…the government of Israel practices a brutal form of Apartheid in the territory it occupies. It’s army has turned every Palestinian village and town into a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention camp.”
Shulamit Aloni, January, 2007
Former Education Minister under
Yitzhak Rabin *